


Mist

by dragonsfire78, ZoeyWinterRose



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Almost death, Anger, Cliffhangers, Death, Depression, Distrust, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Guilt, Hurt, Immortal flame, Locked In, Pain on the inside, Sans' guilt, Self-Hatred, Self-Sacrifice, Shame, Tragedy, uncontrollable magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-06-02 03:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6548824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonsfire78/pseuds/dragonsfire78, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoeyWinterRose/pseuds/ZoeyWinterRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fire has been going on for years. It inches closer to Snowdin, killing everyone and everything in it's path. It seems no one is safe and Sans knows it's his fault. He started it after all. After years of sulking over his mistake and contemplating suicide, he realizes that his family may be in danger. He becomes determined to save everyone he cares about, even if they no longer care about him. The price for his success, however, is greater than he realizes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Spark

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! So I've been trying to get this done for a while! We had no idea how to go about doing this so it was a bit confusing. I really hope you guys like it. Seriously, this is gotta be the worst/best idea we've ever had! (pst! Hey you! This is info for the story! The stuff in Italics is a flashback~ Thank you!)

Sans looked out the window of his room. Disgust for himself flooded over him as he watched the fire that inched closer and closer to Snowdin. He looked around the room. The window was barred shut to keep him in. The bedroom door was locked from the outside. The only thing in the room was his mattress on the floor and a ball of blankets. The light bulb had busted a while ago. The only light that flooded the room was from the flames outside.

He looked at the snow. It had been so long since he stepped onto the perfect white surface that he had forgotten the sound it made. He longed to go back outside. He longed for the cold air to bite at his bones. He knew he didn't deserve it, though. He didn't deserve to even see outside with his mistake. The flames in the distance that moved closer and closer to Snowdin was his mistake. His fault. His catastrophe that had killed off every resident of the Underground, except those who made it to Snowdin before the flames got them.

Sans closed his eyes and recounted the reason behind this insanity. It all began during a visit to the king...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_“I'm gonna get'cha, Sans!” Papyrus shouted as he chased his brother through the long hallway leading to the king's throne._   
_“Nu-uh!” Sans laughed as he dodged his older brother's open arms. “I will be victorious in this fight!!! You can never stop me!!! Mwahahah- Ow, Undyne stop it!” Sans rubbed his arm where the fish girl pinched him. She really pinched hard. A grin covered her face. “Now I'm the winner!!!” She shouted and ran off. Alphys had no clue what was going on, so she just sat back and watched._

_They loved doing this. They loved going to the castle and play while Gaster, Alphys' mom and Gerson were in a meeting with Asgore. They got to play. They never could play because of the distance between each child with Alphys living in the capital, Undyne in Waterfall and the two skeletons in Snowdin. It was a nice change from loneliness._

_“What do you think you're doing?!” A monster kid shouted at the others. The group of children stopped and looked in his direction. Alphys moved closer behind Undyne, who looked rather annoyed._   
_“What do you want, small fry?” Undyne said, crosses her arms. “Can't you see we're in the middle of a game here?”_   
_“You guys look stupid. Especially you.” The kid pointed a finger at Papyrus. “You not only look stupid, but you act stupid too! The kid from Snowdin that's always shouting and going on about how great you are when you're just a failure!!!”_

_Papyrus flinched. “I-I am not!” He stuttered. Undyne threw her arms up in the air. “Why do you always have to pick on Papyrus?! He's like... the most innocent one here!!!”_   
_“Because he's the stupidest!!” The kid pushed Papyrus down. Sans couldn't put up with that. He stepped in front of his brother. The kid grinned. “What are you gonna do about me pushing your brother?”_

_Sans said nothing. He just turned around and helped his brother up. Undyne shoved the kid into the wall, yelling about how it was rude of him to pick on someone (and how she'd beat him up if he did it again.)_   
_“You okay, bro?” Sans looked at his brother. Papyrus nodded and smiled, claiming it took more than just a shove and some words to knock him down. Sans could tell, though, it hit his brother harder than he let on._

_When Sans looked back, Undyne was on the ground. The kid had pushed her down and made his way over to the skeletons. He raised his hand to hit Papyrus. Sans really couldn't stand that. Both of his pupils turned into a cyan blue, picking the kid up and throwing him into the wall across from them. Everyone looked at Sans in shock and confusion._

_Sans backed away from them, his hands both encased in a blue flame. It didn't hurt. His back hit the wall. The flames travelled up his arms and to his shoulders. Tears brimmed at his eye sockets. He was scared._

_Gaster walked in the room, looking down at some papers._   
_“Dad!” Papyrus called, sounding desperate. Gaster looked up at his son. Papyrus looked horrified, his finger pointing behind a pillar. The scientist moved in a way to see it. He froze. Sans was completely covered in the blue flames. Cyan tears poured down his skull. “Dad...” He called quietly, voice breaking and cracking. Gaster slowly moved towards his child._

_Sans could barely see through teary vision. He felt a hand on his arm. He couldn't hold in the magic that threatened to burst. It was an explosion of blue flames and magic. His vision came into focus. What he saw was horrifying to him. His father was face first on the floor across the room. Alphys was hiding behind a pillar that she had moved previously, whimpering. Papyrus was sitting against that pillar with a pained expression across his face. Undyne was leaning through a broken window. She was completely limp._

_The flames was spreading through the room. The light from the flames were blaring but the darkness crept in. Everything went black for Sans._

_He woke up a day later. His hands were in some kind of restraint. He was in his room._   
_“Hello, Sans.” The gentle voice of his father spoke across the room. “Are you feeling alright?”_   
_“Yes sir.” Sans looked at his father. There was two cracks in his skull. His eyes widened. He did that. He hurt his father._   
_“Sans, it's alright... Just... rest. Gerson and I are going to try to fix this. Until then, though, you aren't leave the house. Do you understand?”_   
_“Yes sir.”_   
_Gaster pressed his broken skull to his son's. “You are not at fault for anything here, Sans.” He walked out the room and closed the door._

_Sans could hear his father and Gerson talking outside his door. Fire... Spreading... Asgore.... Dead..._

_He looked out his window. He could see in the distant was a blue light. The fire at the castle. His reflection caught his attention. He couldn't get a good enough view of himself but he did see something out of place. A star. A light blue star was above his right eye. It was very faint, very dull, but it was there nonetheless. It didn't matter, though. He looked down at his sheets._ It's not my fault _, he told himself over and over._

_It's not my fault._

_It's not my fault._

_It's my fault._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sans stood at his window, watching the flames. At the boarder of Waterfall. It was getting faster by the second. The star above his right eye was much brighter than it was years ago. He looked at his reflection through the window, trying to ignore the bars. He made his eyes glowed but only his left one would work. It seemed the right eye lost it's cyan light the day of the fire. He caused everyone to hurt that day.

The cracks on his father's skull, the crack on the top of Papyrus' head, the always closed right eye of Gerson and Undyne's missing left eye were his fault. The king's death, along with every monster that hadn't escaped to Waterfall or Hotland, was his fault.

He sat in the corner of his room. Cyan tears built up in his eyes. It wasn't the dust on his hands that hurt him the most. It was the fear and hatred in Papyrus' eyes (or lack thereof) when he actually got to see his brother. That stung. Sans couldn't take the guilt anymore. He sobbed in the fur lining his blue jacket. After what felt like hours, he fell asleep.


	2. Silhouette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne is furious and heartbroken. Grillby does something unexpected. Sans feels something he hasn't felt in a long long time until something happens that makes him depressed once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad Summary, I know XD But I'm very pleased with this chapter! See the chapter notes at the end for an explanation about Grillby. Read the chapter first, though!

Everyday the fire inched closer to the town of Snowdin. It was halfway through Waterfall at this point. Everyone was either sticking in Snowdin and planning or running out and trying to stop the wild wall of fire. Neither action seemed to be working. With each inch of land the flame engulfed, it seemed to get stronger. With every foot closer it grew to Snowdin, the star above Sans' eye grew brighter. 

Sans watched as his father and Undyne walked people from Waterfall to Snowdin. Shyren was going fairly slowly. Temmie was in Gaster's arms. There was a look of sadness about them. Guilt twinged in Sans' chest. Someone hadn't made it out alive. When they neared the house, he saw tears rolling down Undyne's cheeks. Her head tilted up and their eyes locked. He couldn't read her. He couldn't tell who it had been. Whoever it was, though, she was angry.

He watched as a group of monsters organized in front of their home. Gaster was speaking. Undyne stared at the ground angrily. Tears were waterfalling down her cheeks. He saw his father glance up at the window along with everyone else in the group. Sans let the guilt sink further in. Whatever had happened, whatever horrible misfortune had hit them, was his fault. 

The group dispersed. Everyone, excluding Undyne and Gaster, had slowly made their way to Grillby's. The fire monster tried to comfort his companions by helping provide food and a place to sleep to those who couldn't squeeze in the crowded inn. Regardless of his efforts to help, it still wasn't enough.

Sans heard footsteps going up the stairs and down the hall. They stopped in front of his door. He heard the click of the door unlocking. It swung open. His father stood in the doorway. He walked in and closed the door behind him. Both skeletons sat on the bed and watched the fire out the window.   
“Sans.” Gaster said slowly. “It isn't your fault. Whatever happened and continues to happen is and was out of your control.”   
Sans said nothing. He just let the silence linger. He knew his father was lying even if Gaster himself didn't know. 

“Sans, we love you.” Gaster continued. “Papyrus and I love you very much. We don't want you to be hurt by the fire or yourself. I want you to remember that always. I am proud to be your father, regardless of what happens after today.” He laid a hand on his son's shoulders. Sans looked at his father. For the first time since he was a child, a very small smile found it's way on his face. Gaster smiled back at his son. For the first time since this started, Sans felt... hope. 

“SANS, I'M GOING TO RIP YOU APART!!” Undyne screamed as she furiously stomped her way to Sans' room. Papyrus was being dragged behind her in an attempt to stop her but he was too weak. “This is your fault!” She continued. “You're the reason over a hundred monsters, including the king are dead! You're the reason Alphys is dead!!!! You killed her!!!”  
Sans froze. Alphys was gone too? Now he understood. He looked up at Undyne. Her face was streaked with tears of her lost friend. Papyrus had attempted to calm her down but to no avail. She was angry and rightfully so Sans thought. She was wanted to kill him. He wished she would. 

“You don't know what she meant to me!!” Undyne's voice broke as she summoned a spear. Gaster got up and stepped in front of her to stop whatever she was about to do.   
“Undyne, we all loved Alphys. We're all hurt over her death but killing Sans won't help. Killing him won't stop the grief and it certainly won't bring her back.” Gaster spoke calmly. Undyne fell to her knees. Sobs broke through the air. Her spear shattered.  
“No! Not like I did! I... She was so much to me... She was... I loved her. I wanted to bring her to safety, she was the only hope I had in this miserable place! And now... Because of your freak of a son... She's gone...” 

The room fell silent. The only sound that came from the entire house was Undyne's occasional sobbing. Sans felt the guilt stronger now than ever before. Papyrus knelt beside his friend and whispered calming words to her. He looked at Sans. His eyes were filled with guilt and sorrow and longing: longing for a better life than... this. He opened his mouth to speak. 

“Gaster!” A monster called from outside the house. “It's Grillby!” 

Everyone rushed out the house, even Sans. He froze when he stepped outside. The beautiful crunch of snow beneath his feet alerted him to where he was. He shivered. It was a bit cold but what did he except? He pulled his jacket closer and looked around. He was outside for the first time in years. It was beautiful. He even thought the fire was beautiful, despite it being deadly. 

Gaster rushed over to where the fire roared. Papyrus, Undyne, and Sans stood at a good enough distance away to be safe but close enough to see what happened. He saw a figure in the fire. It was slowly getting closer to it's exit. Sans started to rush over but the slight movement got his brother's attention. Papyrus grabbed his shoulder. “No, Sans.” The shorter looked at his brother. Papyrus looked desperate to keep him in place. To keep him there and alive. Sans only nodded and continued to watch as he felt his brother's hand move into his. 

Grillby emerged from the wall of blue flames. He was holding the monster kid from Snowdin. A bubble of orange and yellow flames danced around them in a protective manner. As soon as they stepped out, he set the child down and collapsed. The kid stared at him for a second and ran off. He ran past the skeletons and the rest of the spectators that had gathered at this point. None of them wanted to help in fear of their own deaths. They didn't want to leave what friends or family they had left. 

Gaster went over to his friend. They were talking, Sans could see his father's mouth moving. He saw a gleam of tears build up at the corner of Gaster's eyesockets. He saw Grillby's light slowly getting dimmer. He saw the fire moving closer. He couldn't stand still anymore. Sans let go of his brother's hand and ran for his father. He could hear Papyrus screaming for him to come back, then screaming for Undnye to let him go. 

“Dad, come on we have to go!” Sans yelled for his father. Gaster held up his hand and Sans was surrounded in a purple aura.   
“I'm not leaving without him.” Gaster said calmly as he sent Sans back to the other. Papyrus hugged him. “I'm not losing you, brother.” 

They held on to each other and watched on eagerly as Gaster slowly helped Grillby limp back to the town. Grillby started dragging his feet. They stopped. The fire monster fell. The fire was getting closer to them. Sans could see them talking. He could hear the town residents screaming at them to hurry up as the fire was practically touching them. Gaster shook his head and, in seconds, Grillby turned into nothing but a pile a dust. The skeleton caught the glasses before they fell to the ground.  
“DAD!” Sans screamed as loud as he could to get his father's attention. Gaster turned towards his family. He seemed dazed for a few seconds. Then he realized what had happened. It was too late. The flames engulfed him. And moved closer to the town at a faster rate. 

The entire town bowed their heads in remorse except for Sans. He stood there. It was his fault. He did this. He killed his father and his father's best friend. He almost killed monster kid. He got the king killed. He got Undyne's crush killed.   
“It's my fault.” He whispered as tears spilled down his face. Papyrus looked down at him. “Sans.” His brother began. Undyne ripped them apart and pushed the smaller skeleton in the snow. Sans shivered.   
“You're damned right it's your fault!” She looked furious. So did the rest of the town as they crowded around him. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the worst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (CHAPTER SPOILERS JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T READ THE CHAPTER FIRST!) Grillby didn't die by the fire, he died by the over use of magic. I'm so sorry guys, I felt cruel XD Anyway, check out my other stuff, it's good too! RisingTale's a bit slower paced, so is The Will To Fight but they're both good! (I hope)


	3. MERCY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They spared him. After everything he did, they spared him. They let him live with them. Why? He didn't know. They kept talking about the door outside of Snowdin and how that would be their only salvation. He had to contribute, right? Right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super duper uper sorry this is late, guys! I've been busy with school and my other four works and some works in the making! Please don't hate me! Here! Take a chapter, I promise its happy!

Sans was slowly surrounded by the townspeople. Their faces held nothing but rage and sorrow. The tears from the pain of lost friends and family stung at the corner of their eyes. They looked betrayed. Angry. Remorseful. Sans could agree that they looked anything but happy. But honestly, who was happy these days? 

“He started this mess! Let's throw him into the fire!” A townsperson yelled from the back of the crowd. Sans fell backwards and buried his face in his jacket. His body trembled so badly he started rattling. He knew they were right.   
“Wait!” Papyrus' worried voice echoed over the grumbles of the crowd. “Why? What good will killing my brother do you?” Sans couldn't help but look up at him. Papyrus had refered to him as brother. He never did that. 

“If nothing else it'll avenge our dead families!” Dogaressa screamed. All Sans could see of her was her teary eyes and the two axes on her back.   
“If he wasn't born this wouldn't have happened!”   
The entire town yelled comments of the same caliber as they inched closer and closer to the skeleton on the ground. Sans didn't move to stop them. 

Undyne lifted her spear in the air and pointed it at Sans. As she went to stab Sans, Papyrus grabbed her arm.   
“What the hell, Papyrus?!” She yelled.   
“You're not hurting my brother.” It was the first time in a long long time Papyrus sounded angry. He helped Sans up and wiped the snow off the smaller skeleton. Sans could only look at him in confusion and wonder. All his life, he never really messed with papyrus. He didn't want to hurt him. All Papyrus' life, Sans was in his room and here they were: Papyrus protecting his little brother. 

“No matter what Sans may or may not have done, he doesn't deserve to die. Nobody does. It was an accident. Undyne, you were there!” Papyrus continued. Undyne lowered her spear and fell silent. Her fins drooped. “Sans wants to help us and he's going to. Right Sans?” Papyrus turned to look at him. The smaller skeleton nodded quickly, pulling the jacket closer.  
“I'm just... I don't want to make it worst.” Sans spoke quietly.   
“I can't get worst.” Undyne replied. A sad smile tugged at her lips. “Come on losers, we're going to fix this... Whatever the hell it is.” She said and led the town back to Grillby's bar. Papyrus picked up Sans and followed.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Sleep that night was hard. The memory of Gaster and Grillby dying haunted him. The only family he had left was Papyrus. He was scared of losing his brother as well. The fire was close. Really close.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple days had passed since the incident that killed his father. Sans had lived in Grillby's with the other monsters due to the fire practically touching his house. His star was glowing so brightly, they had to box him off from everyone else for them to sleep. It wasn't that bad during the day, though.

Sans stood in the center of town and watched the fire slowly engulf his home. He frowned. The fire never seemed to spread farther than the wall of flames. It was odd...   
“Scared?” Undyne came up behind him muching on a burger the shop keeper cooked. Sans shrugged and looked back at the fire. “Me too.” She sad lowly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The following week was spent planning. Everyone was putting in their own thoughts on how to get rid of the monster that closed in on them. The giant wall of flames had engulfed Sans' and Papyrus' house at this point.   
“We should retreat to the ruins.” Doggo yapped. “The door might move!”  
“Or it might not.” Undyne sighed. “That door hasn't opened since... well forever! All we can really do is try to figure out how to extinguish this fire. If we can't...” She didn't have to finish her sentence. They knew.

The group sat in silence. Nobody could look anyone else in the eyes. Sans just looked at all of them, the guilt building back up in his chest. They were so kind to him. Even Dogaressa. She held Dogamy's cloak in her paws. Her tears and stiffled whimpers never seeemd to stop. Undyne constantly wore Alphys' lab coat, though it was tattered. Everyone in the group seemed to have something that belonged to their lost loved ones. Sans' heart was heavy. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sans tried to sleep for hours but it never came. He decided to walk to this door everyone kept mentioning. It was a rusted, old, purple door. An odd color for such a snowy area. Sighing, he plopped down in front of it. It was hopeless for the monsters. 

He knocked his hand against the door. “Knock knock.” He said to himself. He opened his mouth to answer when a voice from the other side of the door spoke. “Who's there?” It said. Confusion over took him. There was someone on the other side of this door?  
“Who's there?” The voice repeated a little louder but no less gentle.   
“Heh, Who.” Sans replied to her.  
“Who who?”  
“Well hello there, owl.”   
Laughter came from the other side of the door. A smile ran across Sans' face. The realization hit him: He could ask her for help now and save the towns people. 

“Miss... Um...”  
“Toriel. My name is Toriel.”   
“Right.... We need your help, Miss Toriel.”  
Silence. “Go on.” She finally said.  
“There's this... magic wall of fire that's killed half the kingdom. What's left of us need refuge and the only safe place we can think of is the ruins. Please, let us in.”

Once again she fell silence. Sans sighed and stood up. “I understand if you'd rather-”  
“Heavens no!” She said as she opened the door. She stepped outside, allowing Sans to see her in full light. A gently smile was displayed on her face. “Come on, now. Let us save the monsters.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“WAIT WHAT?!” Undyne's jaw dropped. “We can get in the ruins?! With the queen?!”  
“That is the plan, right?” She looked at the fire. “Now start evacuating, child.”   
Undyne nodded, face stuck in a look on astonishment. She turned and walked back in the building. 

“What is your name, child?” Toriel looked at Sans. The gentleness never seemed to leave her gaze.  
“Sans...” He rubbed the back of his head.  
“Well Sans... I think you're-”  
A scream interupted her sentence. They looked in the direction of the scream. Monster Kid was about to be consumed by the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never said it stayed happy. >:D Yes!!!! Fear for the child's life!!!! And wait in pure terror for next week's update!!!


	4. Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He made it... He can stop it all... But what will the price be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it took so long! Enjoy the finale!

The stretch from where Sans and Toriel stood to the fire almost consuming Monster Kid was huge. He knew he'd never make it, but his heart told him to try. Toriel, Undyne, and Papyrus ran behind him. Undyne and Papyrus were getting closer while Toriel had stopped to hold back the crowd. Sans closed his eyes. He had to save at least one person from his mistake. He felt every molecule in his body seperate and quickly stick back together. It didn't hurt but it did feel a tad bit uncomfortable.

When he opened his eyes once again, he was directly in front of Monster Kid. How did he get this close so fast? He had no idea and he had no time to question. He grabbed the child and pushed him forward. Monster Kid ran as fast as he could to Undyne, who had caught up to them. As Sans watch Undyne pick up the kid, flames engulfed his body. He closed his eyes and waited for death.

But the pain never came. He opened his eyes. The flames were completely surrounding him but they never touched his bones. He looked up at the group of people watching him. They all looked in shock. He didn't blame them.   
“I understand now.” Toriel said. “I know how to put out this fire.” 

 

“This is not just any ordinary fire. It is magic fire. Like this Grillby you speak of.” Toriel spoke to the audience. “The only way to put it out is if the magic user who created it forces it into nothingness. That person is Sans.” Everyone looked towards the skeleton. Sans looked at Toriel, his brother's grip on his hand tightening.   
“I'll do what I have to.” He said.  
Toriel nodded and gave a gentle smile. “Go to source, where it all started. There, you should fine a ball of light. Just touch it and force the fire down. Understood?”  
Sans nodded.  
“Now, do you know where the fire started?”   
“Yes...” Sans paused and looked towards the castle. “The Great Hall.”

 

Sans walked through the entire underground. The entire time, the fire never touched even the clothing on his body. He wasn't even hot. 

Waterfall was cyan blue. The water itself was untouched. It radiated a light blue so the color of the fire and the water blended and mixed into many shades of blue. It seemed as if everything else was in place but all he could see of it was the silhouettes. It would've been beautiful, if not for the fact that this fire had taken innocent lives. 

 

Hotland was an odd mixture of colors. Like the water in waterfall, the lava was untouched by the burning flames. This created a mixture of orange and blue all around Sans. He looked on in wonder and hatred. How could something so evil and destructive also create something so beautiful? 

 

The core was a melted amalgamation of metal pipes and ramps. The blue flames engulfed and melted everything, finally giving a sinister look to the underground. He kept walking through the flames. He was so close now. He just hoped he made it on time. 

 

All it would normally take would be a single elevator ride from the core to the deceased king's castle. Fortunally, the elevator was on the floor Sans was on. Unfortunately, it was melted and broken like everything else. He stared at it, thinking about all the faces that looked to him as he entered the burning flames: Undyne's face of hidden pain, Papyrus' terrified expression, Toriel's sorrowful gaze, and the look of forgivenness on Dogaressa's face. That look was the same look many others had given him as he departed. He was fixing his mistake and they had forgiven him. He let out a shaking breath, the flames in front of him blowing away for a few seconds only to return practically crawling on his skin. 

He'd already killed off the majority of the kingdom with his powers... He let out a shaky breath. Now, it was time for him to use his powers to restore the kingdom. He focused hard, very hard, on the elevator doors. His bones hurt trying to summon his powers from wherever he sent them to be oppressed. The elevator doors had a blue glow around them, a little darker than the aura that the fire created. They suddenly slammed open. Sans stepped inside and opened the door on top of the elevator. He climbed out and looked up. He could see the door to the king's palace. Now the problem was getting up there. 

He spent 20 minutes carefully climbing up the elevator shaft. About 4 times he slipped and almost fell. Finally, with blue sweat running down his skull, he made it to the top. He kept walking and took no break to get to the hall he so clearly remembered. He saw the broken window, the cracked pillar, the dried blood... This was it. As he went over to the spot of origin, he noticed something peculiar. He realized there was a ball of white light, about the size of Monster Kid. Slowly he reached his hand out to it and touched it. It was so warm and it felt like glass...

It unfurled. Where the ball was now stood the figure of a woman, seven foot tall. She was glowing completely white. Her hair was waving like there was a wind that Sans couldn't feel. Her eyes were golden. The fires didn't dare even trace her. They circled around her, a whole foot away from her body.   
“Sans.” Her voice echoed softly in the hallway. “You have come all this way to undo your mistake.”   
“Y-yes.” Sans spoke softly, his body shaking as much as his voice was. “I want it to be over.”   
“And it can be. Your family, your friends... They can all return. Life can go on as it was before this fire even started. On one condition, of course. There is a price and, of course, a consequence. You must give your life for theirs.”

Sans thought about it. The little friends he had made would have to live with him. They would be sad, especially his brother. But they'd be alive. They'd be healthy and eventually happy again. He looked up, locking eyes with the white woman. “Anything it takes to protect them... and help them... and repay them.”  
“Then it will be done, Sans.” 

With those final words, the whole world seemed go white.

 

 

“And that's why there's a statue my brother in Snowdin, human!” Papyrus smiled down at the tiny human, tears in the corner of his eyes. “He wanted to protect us!” Frisk nodded and stared up at the statue of Sans. They thought he must've been great. Papyrus mentioned him a lot. He even wore a blue jacket like the statue had.   
“My son was great. He had odd tastes and was shy but he was great.” Gaster stood behind the human, smiling up at the statue. “You know,” he continued, “today's Sans' birthday. Well, it would've been.”   
“Oh yes! Sans is... was! Older than me you know human!” Papyrus said, almost proudly. 

“He would have loved to meet you, Frisk.” Toriel said as she picked up the human child and placed buttercup flowers on the base of the statue. Gaster and Toriel walked off, chatting about their lost children in bitter sorrow. Papyrus ran ahead of them towards Undyne, tears dropping down his face but a smile plastered on his face. Frisk looked over Toriel's shoulder at the statue. Something about it filled the human with sorrow and happiness and compassion and many other emotions. But the feeling that stood out the most was determination. Determination to do the right thing, even if it meant giving up your own life. Determination to give the monsters a better life with the real sun and not just fire.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked this! Please leave a comment and check out my other works! It'd be much appreciated!


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